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Strong-Field Photodetachment of Negative Ions – Orbital Alignment Effects and Tomographic Imaging of Photoelectrons

Mikael Eklund

Published Sep 7, 2015• 0 citations
OpenAlex

Abstract

Photoelectron imaging techniques are used to experimentally investigate photodetachment of negative ions in a strong laser-field as well as the orbital alignment dynamics in the residual neutral.\n\nStrong-field photodetachment in a linearly polarized pulsed laser with 100 fs pulse length is used to create a wave packet in the neutral atoms of carbon, germanium and silicon. The negative ions of these three atomic species are isoelectronic with a half-filled $p$-shell. The photodetachment rate is highly dependent on the magnetic quantum number $m_\\ell$ with the orbital with $m_\\ell = 0$ having a detachment rate of an order of magnitude larger than orbitals with $m_\\ell$ non-zero, with the polarization axis acting as a quantization axis. The residual neutral is thus left in an aligned state after photodetachment. The aligned state constitutes of a coherent superposition of fine-structure states and the population in the different orbitals will accordingly display a time-dependent spatial oscillation. The created wave packet is subsequently probed through photoionization by a second strong-field laser pulse.\n\nSecondly, a tomographic method is implemented to observe the three-dimensional distribution of photoelectrons produced in strong-field photodetachment processes. The method makes no assumptions of the existence of any symmetry axes in the photoelectron distribution and is thus applicable to any laser polarization ellipticity. Traditional imaging methods are dependent on the photoelectron distribution to be cylindrically symmetric by using either linearly or circularly polarized light, a requirement which can be lifted by using a tomographic technique. The method is applied to multiphoton detachment of the negative ion of silver.\n\nFinally, strong-field photodetachment of homonuclear diatomic negative ions is performed. The possibility of the additional electron being ejected from either of the two atomic centers can significantly alter the photoelectron distribution compared to an atomic negative ion with the same detachment energy. Experiments are performed on C$_2^-$, Si$_2^-$ and Ag$_2^-$ and compared to theoretical models.

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The goal of the presented work is to investigate double detachment of\nnegative ions on nano- and femtosecond time scales. I have performed\nthree types of experiments.\nFemtosecond time resolved pump-probe experiments have been performed\non electron dynamics in the valence shell of carbon, silicon\nand germanium atoms. The atom under investigation was prepared\nby strong field photodetachment of its parent negative ion in a linearly\npolarized femtosecond laser pulse. The detachment process coherently\npopulates the fine structure levels of the atomic ground state\ngiving rise to an electronic wave packet moving in the valence shell\nof the atom. The wave packet is probed by strong field ionization at a\ntime delay controlled on a femtosecond time scale. The ionized electrons\nare detected in an electron imaging spectrometer. The energy\nand angular distribution of the ionized electrons provide information\non the phase of the wave packet. The results reveal a periodic spatial\nrearrangement of the electron cloud in the atom. The experimental\nprocedure and detection scheme developed provide the first direct visualization\nof an electronic wave packet moving in the ground state of\nan atom.\nThe process of rescattering in strong field detachment has also been\ninvestigated. The detached electron is accelerated in the laser field.\nWhen the E-field changes its direction the electron follows and may\nreturn and collide with the core. I have investigated the rescattering\neffect in negative fluorine ions and compared with previous results on\nbromine ions. Furthermore, strong field detachment experiments of\nF \n2 were conducted and the results from molecular fluorine ions are\ncompared to results from atomic fluorine ions.\nPhotodetachment cross sections and doubly excited states in K and\nCs have been investigated through double detachment. A resonant\nionization scheme was used where the ion beam and laser beams were\nin a collinear configuration allowing for measurements of partial cross\nsection channels individually with nearly 100% detection efficiency.\nA new threshold behavior has been found in photodetachment into\natomic states having a large and negative polarizability. A new model\nwas developed to explain the observed phenomena. Furthermore, two\nnew resonances stemming from doubly excited states were found below\nthe K(7 2P) channel opening in K and a set of new resonances\nwas observed in Cs below the Cs(10 2P) channel.

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Pakistan Journal of Emerging Science and Technologies (PJEST)•May 14, 2023•0 citations
Photoelectron imaging techniques are used to experimentally investigate photodetachment of negative ions in a strong laser-field as well as the orbital alignment dynamics in the residual neutral.\n\nStrong-field photodetachment in a linearly polarized pulsed laser with 100 fs pulse length is used to create a wave packet in the neutral atoms of carbon, germanium and silicon. The negative ions of these three atomic species are isoelectronic with a half-filled ppp-shell. The photodetachment rate is highly dependent on the magnetic quantum number m_\\ell with the orbital with m_\\ell = 0 having a detachment rate of an order of magnitude larger than orbitals with m_\\ell non-zero, with the polarization axis acting as a quantization axis. The residual neutral is thus left in an aligned state after photodetachment. The aligned state constitutes of a coherent superposition of fine-structure states and the population in the different orbitals will accordingly display a time-dependent spatial oscillation. The created wave packet is subsequently probed through photoionization by a second strong-field laser pulse.\n\nSecondly, a tomographic method is implemented to observe the three-dimensional distribution of photoelectrons produced in strong-field photodetachment processes. The method makes no assumptions of the existence of any symmetry axes in the photoelectron distribution and is thus applicable to any laser polarization ellipticity. Traditional imaging methods are dependent on the photoelectron distribution to be cylindrically symmetric by using either linearly or circularly polarized light, a requirement which can be lifted by using a tomographic technique. The method is applied to multiphoton detachment of the negative ion of silver.\n\nFinally, strong-field photodetachment of homonuclear diatomic negative ions is performed. The possibility of the additional electron being ejected from either of the two atomic centers can significantly alter the photoelectron distribution compared to an atomic negative ion with the same detachment energy. Experiments are performed on C2−_2^-2−​, Si2−_2^-2−​ and Ag2−_2^-2−​ and compared to theoretical models.
A pump-probe laser scheme is employed to investigate orbital alignment and its dynamics in the ground state of laser-generated neutral atoms. The alignment is initiated by electron photodetachment of an atomic negative ion in a strong laser pulse. The electron density distribution in the ground state of the residual atom is probed by means of strong-field ionization in a second laser pulse at a delayed time. The principle of the probe method relies on the fact that the portion of the electron density distribution oriented along the laser polarization axis constitutes the ionization yield in the high-energy jets of emitted electrons. A systematic study is carried out on C, Si, and Ge atoms, which possess two electrons in an open ppp shell. A pronounced temporal modulation in the yield of high-energy electrons is observed for C and Si, revealing a periodic spatial rearrangement of the electron density distribution in these atoms. Its period is defined by the beat between the J=1J=1J=1 and J=2J=2J=2 spin-orbit components of the ground state.
The goal of the presented work is to investigate double detachment of\nnegative ions on nano- and femtosecond time scales. I have performed\nthree types of experiments.\nFemtosecond time resolved pump-probe experiments have been performed\non electron dynamics in the valence shell of carbon, silicon\nand germanium atoms. The atom under investigation was prepared\nby strong field photodetachment of its parent negative ion in a linearly\npolarized femtosecond laser pulse. The detachment process coherently\npopulates the fine structure levels of the atomic ground state\ngiving rise to an electronic wave packet moving in the valence shell\nof the atom. The wave packet is probed by strong field ionization at a\ntime delay controlled on a femtosecond time scale. The ionized electrons\nare detected in an electron imaging spectrometer. The energy\nand angular distribution of the ionized electrons provide information\non the phase of the wave packet. The results reveal a periodic spatial\nrearrangement of the electron cloud in the atom. The experimental\nprocedure and detection scheme developed provide the first direct visualization\nof an electronic wave packet moving in the ground state of\nan atom.\nThe process of rescattering in strong field detachment has also been\ninvestigated. The detached electron is accelerated in the laser field.\nWhen the E-field changes its direction the electron follows and may\nreturn and collide with the core. I have investigated the rescattering\neffect in negative fluorine ions and compared with previous results on\nbromine ions. Furthermore, strong field detachment experiments of\nF \n2 were conducted and the results from molecular fluorine ions are\ncompared to results from atomic fluorine ions.\nPhotodetachment cross sections and doubly excited states in K and\nCs have been investigated through double detachment. A resonant\nionization scheme was used where the ion beam and laser beams were\nin a collinear configuration allowing for measurements of partial cross\nsection channels individually with nearly 100% detection efficiency.\nA new threshold behavior has been found in photodetachment into\natomic states having a large and negative polarizability. A new model\nwas developed to explain the observed phenomena. Furthermore, two\nnew resonances stemming from doubly excited states were found below\nthe K(7 2P) channel opening in K and a set of new resonances\nwas observed in Cs below the Cs(10 2P) channel.
A multichannel study of the photodetachment of a negative ion such as ${\mathrm{S}}^{\mathrm{\ensuremath{-}}}$ in the presence of a constant electric field is presented. The analysis is carried out as a series of frame transformations for the outgoing photoelectron. An earlier analysis in the absence of the external field is now augmented by the further transformations from spherical to cylindrical symmetry that are required. The interplay between the various thresholds due to fine structure in the negative ion and residual atom and the effects of the external field are analytically treated. The net effect is to eliminate the thresholds, to induce modulations in the detachment cross section, and to introduce field-assisted-tunneling contributions to the photodetachment. Numerical illustrations are provided. Our treatment closely parallels similar treatments of photoionization of neutral atoms in an electric field and of photodetachment in a magnetic field.
A novel kind of coherent control of various atomic and molecular photoprocesses proceeding in a bichromatic electromagnetic (EM) laser field, angular coherent control , is proposed and demonstrated here theoretically by studying the particular case of negative-ion photodetachment in the field of a linearly polarized fundamental laser frequency and its second harmonic of arbitrary spatial configuration and orientation of the unit polarization vectors e 1 and e 2 of the respective harmonic fields. Due to the inherent spatial asymmetry of the applied bichromatic field, the ejection of detached photoelectrons is also generally asymmetric in respect of the detached photoelectron momentum replacement p →- p . As follows from our gauge-invariant analytical calculations within the framework of perturbation theory on EM interaction and a zero-range potential model for the negative ion, this field asymmetry results in a photocurrent, the magnitude and direction of which are strongly dependent on both the relative phase shift Φ between the harmonics of the ionizing bichromatic field and on the angle θ between the polarization vectors e 1 and e 2 . The latter strong dependence on the angle θ is the background for angular control of the direction and magnitude of the produced photocurrent by means of an appropriate choice and proper adjustment of the angle between the polarization vectors of the incident bichromatic field harmonics.
Multiphoton excitation with elliptically polarized light brings out more information in the photodetachment or photoionization processes than linearly polarized light. This information can be reached by recording photoelectron angular distributions for several values of the ellipticity angle, and fitting the whole set of data with an analytic formula. We give here the appropriate formula, valid for any number N of exciting photons, with the assumptions of (1) an initially even and momentumless (J equals 0) atom or ion and (2) that after excitation of an electron, the residual core be left in an odd state. These are the conditions met by multiphoton detachment from halogen negative ions. With elliptically polarized light of (lambda) equals 1064.2 nm, we have measured the angular distributions of three-photon detached electrons from the ion I-, and four-photon detached electrons from Cl- and F-. The experimental results are quantitatively analyzed and commented on.
Photodetachment Microscopy experiment was first carried out in the presence of an electric field by Blondel et al in 1996 for Bromine negative ion. It measures the spatial distribution of ejected electrons on the detector screen which is a direct view of the spatial structure of the wave function of an atomic electron in the form of a ring pattern. From a semi-classical point of view, this ring pattern is formed because of the interference between two electron waves; one is direct while the other is reflected from an electric field. Following Blondel's photodetachment microscopy experiment, a formula that displays the Newton Rings is derived using a theoretical imaging technique or hydrogen negative ion near a plane interface. The interface means an elastic plane in the vicinity of the source of photoelectrons. The direct and reflected electron waves in this formula generate quantum interference in the form of Newton Rings. It is found that the number of rings increases as we increase the photon energy of the laser light. This finding is in accordance with the very well-known Einstein photoelectric effect which finally provides help to find the electron affinity of the hydrogen negative ion very accurately.